Marianne Skjelstad is from Norway, and makes the most stunning cards! Her cards is to be recognized by wonderful colors, details, design and last but not least fabulous coloring.Marianne colors in her images mostly with Promarkers, and she has made a tutorial for us;

Letraset Promarkes are alcohol based markers, that comes in 92 different colors. With Promarkers it is easy to get smooth areas of colors, and by mixing colors while the ink is still wet, you can make wonderful nuances and shadows on your images. The choice og card stock is different from person to person, you have to find which one you like best. I use mostly aquarell papers. Be aware that the ink is spreading more on aquarell paper, and the sough surface can wear out the tip of the marker. Among ink pads I recommend Adirondack Dye. It is the very best ink pad to use with Promarkers. Other ink will very easily smudge into the markers and ruin the image. Let the Adirondacken dry for a couple of hours before you start coloring in. You can also use Distress ink pads, that works as a charm too.

2 rules for success; You have to work in small areas, and you have to work fast. If you get some ink spot from the markers you don`t want, you can erase them by using a lighter color marker.

I have chosen this wonderful image from Sugar Nellie:Her er fargene jeg bruker til dette motivet.Here is the colors I`ve used for coloring in this image.

Jeg begynner med hudfarge, Blush.I start with the skin color, Blush.

For å lage skygger, bruker jeg Pastel Pink.Jeg tar et område av gangen, og begynner med ansiktet. Jeg fukter ansiktet på nytt med Blush, legger raskt på Pastel Pink der jeg vil ha en mørkere nyanse, og går over skjøtene med Blush, til jeg ser at overgangene blir jevne og fine. Fargene vil lysne litt når de tørker.To make shadows I use Pastel Pink.I do one small area at a time, and start with the face. I moist the face once again with Blush, quickly I add Pastel Pink there I want a darker nuance and the I use Blush to blend over the edges, so the colors melt together smooth and nice. The Colors will lighten a bit when they are dry.

Hår og belte har fått et strøk med Sandstone…Hair and her belt has been colored in with Sandstone.....

….og deretter har jeg gitt håret liv med Cocoa.Til slutt har jeg lagt en skygge rundt hele motivet med Ivory....and then I have shadowed her hair with Cocoa. At the end I have used Ivory to put a shadow around the whole image.

Mange tror Promarkers er vanskelig å bruke på detaljere motiver, derfor ville jeg ha med et Sarah Kay motiv med mange små detaljer. Tusjfargene sklir litt ut i papiret. Hvor mye avhenger av hvilket papir du velger å bruke. Det gjelder å holde seg litt innenfor konturene, så fargene får litt plass. Dette blir fort en vane, og det fungerer like godt på detaljerte motiver.A lot of people thinks Promarkers are harder to use on images with lots of details, and that is why I wanted to add an detailed image from Sarah Kay. The colors from the markers will slow into the paper, how much depends on the paper you choose. The clue is to stay a little bit inside the counture of the image. You`ll soon get used to it, and that is how it will still work on detailed images.

Og skulle uhellet være ute, så finnes det faktisk håp allikevel. Husk at de lyse fargene lysner de mørke.Se her på mitt eksempel. Her har jeg vært uheldig med den brune fargen. Dette ser ikke særlig pent ut!And if the accident should happen, there is still hope. Remember that the lighter color erase the darker one. Look at my example. I have unfortunately gotten a brown spot in her face. This is not looking pretty.

Her har jeg raskt funnet frem hudfargen, Blush, og brukt den som ”viskelær” på den brune flekken.Resultatet blir så godt som perfekt. Bare se her.Quickly I took the color Blush, and used it as an "eraser" on the brown spot. And the result is as good as perfect.

Nå gjenstår det bare å lage kort av de ferdige motivene.I tillegg til mønsterark har jeg her brukt Spellbinders sirkler rundt motivet fra Sugar Nellie. Teksten er fra North Star Stamps, og stempelswirlene fra Autumn Leaves. Blomsten er satt sammen av en punchblomst, en fløyelsblomst fra Prima, og metallpynt. Jeg har også brukt Fiskars bordpunch, halvperler, eyelet og en sommerfuglcharm.All that is left now, is to make cards with the images I have colored in. In addition to pattern paper I have used Spellbinder circle around the image from Sugar Nellie. The Text is from North Star Stamps, and the swirl is from Autumn Leaves. The Flower is put together from die cut flower from a punch, a velvet flower from Prima Marketing, and metal embellishment. I have also used Fiskars borderpunch, half perals, eyelet and a butterfly charm.

På dette kortet har motivet fra Whiff of Joy fått spellbinders rammer. Jeg har pyntet med masse blomster, knapper, brads og metallpynt. Jeg har også brukt blonde, halvperler og QK-swirler. Teksten er fra North Star Stamps.In this card I have used Spellbinder dies to make frames fro the image from Whiff of Joy. I have used lots of flowers, buttons, brads and metal embellishemnts. I have also used lace, half pearls and swirls from QuicKutz. The text is from North Star Stamps.

Sarah Kay motivet har blitt til et påskekort, med tekst fra Papirloftet. Her har også motivet fått Spellbinders rammer. Blomstene er laget med Retro punchen, swirlene er Boss kut, og bladene er QK. Ellers har jeg brukt metallpynt og brads. Alle kantene er svertet med Distress Ink.I have used the Sarah Kay image on an Easter card, with text from Papirloftet. I have used Spellbinders to make frame fro the image, also on this card. The Flowers are made with the Retro punch, the swirls are Boss Kut dies, and the leaves are QuicKutz die cuts. I have used metal embellishments and brads. All the edges are distressed with Distress ink.

**********Thank you Marianne for this wonderful tutorial, and we hope our readers find this as interesting and inspirational as we did.